Improved buckle



UNITED STATES YPATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HAVEIIL, OF NEWARK, ASSIGNOR TOFREDERICK STEVENS, OF

' HARRISON 'IOVN SHIP, NEW JERSEY.-

IMPROVED BUCKLE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,945, dated August 23, 1864.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HAvELL, of the town of Newark, in the county of Essex and State ot New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Making Buckles and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of' reference marked thereon.

The nature ot' my invention consists in constructing the frame and tongue of the buckle and subsequently combining them together in so simple and economical a ymanner as greatly to lessen the cost and facilitate the manufacture of the article.

In the drawings hereto attached, Figure I is a plan view ot' the frame as first formed. Fig. II is an end or edge view of the same. Fig. III is a plan view of the tongue with a shank .attached to its posterior bar. Fig. IV is an end or edge view ofthe buckle complete; and Fig. V is a plan view of the same, with a shank attached to the tongue, as seen in Fig. III.

In all these figures like letters refer to the same parts.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now give a full description of the mode of constructing the several parts and of combining them together to form the perfect buckle.

The frame, Figs. I and II, is cast, cut, rolled, or struck up of brass, copper, iron, silver, or any other .nonfragile material, ofauy required form, and with two projections, a a, Fig. II, upon one of the faces of each of its side bars.

The tongue b b, Figs. III and V, is also cast,

cut, rolled, or struck up from any appropriate material, but I prefer cutting or stamping it out of a sheet of metal of the proper size and thickness required by the purpose to which it is to be applied. On cach side or edge of this tongue there is a pivot or axis, c c, and on the posterior end a bar, d, made by cutting out a portion of the metal or material, as seen at e c. When the purpose is to make a grippingbucklethat is, one that holds the strap simply by the force of compression- I make the front face of the tongue,

as shown in Figs. III and V, wit-h lugs b b on each side to catch upon the sides of the frame, to prevent the tongue from being drawn through by too great a strain on the strap. When points or teeth are cut or made on this interior edge of the tongue, of sutlcient length to reach over upon the frame and penetrate through the strap, then these lugs need not be used. The bar .d is intended for the attachment of the buckle to a shank, f f, Figs. III and V, when this mode of attachment is desirable; but for its direct attachment to the strap no intermediate device is needed between it and the strap, and the buckle will then be made of only two partsthe frame and the tongue, as shown in its edge view, Fig. IV.

Having thus prepared the frame and the tongue, I place the latter within the former,

lettingv the pivots c c fall into the rounded notch g g, Figs. I and II, between the projections a a, then compress them inward toward each other until their free ends come together or sufficiently near, the one to the other, to prevent the escape of the pivot from between them, but not to so grip it prevent the free motion of the tongue upon its axis. The tongue having been made of a width just sufficient to allow it free motion between the sides of the frame, it is evident the buckle will perform all its functions just as eh'iciently and securely as if made by any of the processes heretofore in use. By this inode a buckle can be manufactured with much less labor and much less cost than heretofore, and consequently the public benefited in an article of almost universal application.

Having thus fully disclosed and described the manner and process of making and constructing my invention, what I claim is- The projections a a, forming the notches g g,

for the reception and securing of the pivots c c, in the manner and for the purpose described.

GEORGE HAVELL.

Witnesses: v

' J.WHITEHEAD,

FREDERICK STEVENS. 

